Throughout science fiction, you will see the trope about Mega Corp, large corporations that either have an monopoly over EVERYTHING, making them the sole company in the legal market, or are one of a handful of corporations that control different areas and thus do not compete against each other. These corporations are usually the main antagonist of the story, or provide a setting that creates the backstory for the antagonist. They exist as a critique to capitalism by authors that are usually more socialist in nature. The first example is the titular city in Metropolis, but are most prevalent in Cyberpunk such as Blade Runner and Neuromancer. They do not often appear in fantasy, but the science fantasy saga Star Wars has several throughout its expanded universe, such as the trade federation and Czerka Corp. In these works, these corporations are exploitative because, of course (at least according to mainstream thought), they can do whatever they please because they are the only game in town (thus black markets abound in these works to undercut the evil practices of these maga corporations, ironically showing the merits of capitalism and competion).
` It is understandable that most people would view mega corporations this way. After all, we are taught about the evil Robber Barons of the industrial revolution. In mainstream thought, these tycoons gained a large market share of their industry and used predatory pricing to drive out competition. At the same time, muckraker journalists did everything in their power to try and expose the industrial revolution as a system whereby a few exploit the labor of the many, benefiting only a small portion of society. However, works such as The Myth of the Robber Barons, Bully Boy: The Truth About Theodore Roosevelt’s Legacy, and this article have all debunked these ideas.
The truth is that prices were decreasing naturally due to the efficiency of these companies through learning curves and economies of scale. However, market share of Standard Oil, for example, drastically decreased over the decades it was founded until it was broken apart by the US government, because competition began to emulate their efficiency and provide stiff competition. Now, none of these tycoons were perfect. Far from it. Many did have some underhanded practices, but it was not nearly so bad as things are made out to be in our history text books.
Also, lifestyles of people were getting better during the Industrial Revolution. The system was far from perfect, and there were tragedies from accidents in the factories, but the fact remains that people were flooding to city life away from farms, where backbreaking work lasted from sunup to sundown. The problem was that factory life was so new; they had to work out many of the kinks. No one expects a newly hatched caterpillar to be a butterfly. It must go through the larva stage before it can emerge into its beautiful form. The Industrial Revolution needed to build up capital and go through the trial and error of what did and did not work to keep their workers safe. After all, no company wants their employees to get hurt. The owners are greedy capitalists, after all, and training someone new is costly.
Truth is, that it is impossible for these mega corporations to rise up in a free market society. However, one more aspect in works of fiction that utilize this trope show a hint of how they can come about: most either outright control the government, or influence it from the shadows. One real life example of a dystopian mega corporation is the British East India Company. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 use this mega corporation as the main antagonist. This company did have a monopoly (mono meaning single), which was granted to them by the British government. Monopolies can only exist when granted by the government. And many of the stockholders were members of parliament, so this was indeed an example of what science fiction depicts. The key here though, was that government granted a special privilege. Such a thing could not happen in a free market. In the world today, we see a few conglomerate such as Viacom and Johnson & Johnson which have substantial control over their industries, along with major pharmacy and weapons manufacturers. What you will notice, however, is a revolving door between executives of these companies and the so-called “regulatory” bodies that oversee these industries. Major corporations often sponsor legislation that will create higher costs and drive down competition.
So we have a chicken and the egg situation. Do mega corporations exist because capitalists buy out the government and allow them to pass laws that give them greater advantage, or does government choosing winners and losers through bailouts and corporate handouts create an unfair advantage to certain industries and thus become large enough to influence the government? It is hard to say. The common denominator though, is that without government interference, these mega corporations would not exist. It is therefore government, not capitalism, which would cause this dystopian world.
Source: Tyler Leonhardt – The Myth of the MegaCorp